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Gaza City/Cairo - Rival Palestinian factions of Hamas and Fatah began a fourth round of Egyptian-brokered unity talks in Cairo Monday. The latest round of talks comes amid renewed US efforts to revive the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and US special envoy George Mitchell recently completed diplomatic tours of the region, and US President Barack Obama last week met with Jordan's King Abdallah in Washington.

Cairo - Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Thursday denied that Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman had been invited to Egypt.

"I think that the Israeli prime minister, (Benjamin Netanyahu) will come to Egypt in May," Mubarak said in a speech to mark the national holiday of Sinai Liberation Day. "But he will come alone, without another minister."

Cairo - Four Muslim gunmen opened fire on a group of Coptic Christians as they were leaving church in the southern Egyptian governorate of Menya, killing two and wouding one, a security source told the German press agency dpa on Sunday.

The incident took place on Saturday night as Coptic Christians were celebrating Easter in a church vigil.

The source told dpa that the incident "is a revenge case that dates back to a dispute in 2004, and is not based on sectarian or political reasons."

Cairo/Gaza - Egypt is planning to open the Rafah border crossing into Gaza temporarily over the weekend, an Egyptian official said Thursday.

The crossing at the town of Rafah will be open only for those Palestinians who have permits to live or work in Egypt or other Arab countries. Students and medical patients will also be allowed to cross the border.

Cairo - Egyptian authorities on Thursday detained nine Bedouins in central Sinai accused of hiding members of the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah, a security source said.

Egyptian police also detained three Egyptians in Cairo accused of sending money to the Hamas movement in Gaza. The three were from the same family, a security source speaking on condition of anonymity told German press agency, dpa.

Security forces last week arrested a group of 25 people accused of spying for Hezbollah in Egypt.

Cairo - Archaeologists from Egypt and the Dominican Republic will excavate three sites next week in search of the tomb of Antony and Cleopatra, Egyptian officials announced Wednesday.

Archaeologists have been excavating the temple of Taposiris Magna, roughly 50 kilometres west of the Egyptian Mediterranean city of Alexandria, for three years, Egypt's Supreme Council for Antiquities said Wednesday.